


Aziraphale Sells A Book

by EmergentOmens (Janus13)



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Academia, Aziraphale's Bookshop (Good Omens), Aziraphale's Victorian Gays, Baltimore, Epistolary, Gen, Queer History
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:21:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22337734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Janus13/pseuds/EmergentOmens
Summary: The anonymous bookseller in this newspaper article is Aziraphale and you cannot convince me otherwise.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 30





	Aziraphale Sells A Book

**Author's Note:**

> I read this story and the Aziraphale energy was just rolling off of it: [ "A 19th Century Book Helped Lay The Foundation For Gay rights. A Hopkins researcher just found a rare copy." ](https://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bs-fe-jhu-symonds-gay-rights-20200102-d54rikcgmbadtcyul3ifhubteq-story.html) I've since been paywalled from reading it and had to make up most of the rest of the details for this story, but I imagine most of y'all are not reading that much Baltimore Sun. 
> 
> I did a little more research and it sounds like Symonds was actually pretty problematic (e.g. promoting and participating in relationships with underaged people) but I decided not to fictionalize it further so I wouldn't lose the synchronicity between the real world and my beloved Good Omens, or all the weird little impacts that Symonds had on pop culture (he's referring to Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in his letter). Headcannon: the late 19th century was just everyone writing RPF AUs about each other. It sounds like people really did resonate with the book despite Symonds' other shortcomings.
> 
> Now with beta by @bicycle_witch!

October 2, 1883

My dear Mr. Fell, 

I hope that this letter and the book that accompanies it finds you well. I have dearly missed the Club and our friends these years in Switzerland, though in general I know myself to be a poor excuse for an Englishman and prefer the more liberal attitudes of the Continent. 

Knowing your love of literature, as well as other interests we share, I offer you this humble volume. I've had just ten copies made, for good friends such as yourself. I daresay that, should I seek wider distribution, I might have to contend with more ill-will from the public than the state of my health could handle. 

You will find in "The Problem of Greek Ethics" a good deal that is familiar to you from our discussions of the Greek ways of love. In truth, the book might not have been written if not for your delightfully detailed descriptions of the ways of Ancient Greece - as though you were there! I took heart that once men like you and I could follow the truth of their hearts and still be fully welcomed into society. Perhaps one day the world will be ready for these words. As a lover of books, I trust that you will keep it safe and pass it on to a worthy new reader when your time is up. I don’t mean to be morbid, but my fragile health has me thinking about the hereafter, and how I will be remembered when I am gone. If anything remains of me in this world, it will likely be my books. And my friends' books - Robert claims to have something in the works inspired by me, though it seems a dreadful potboiler. Some pseudo-scientific thriller of a doctor leading a double life. Hardly the material for a classic, though there's no accounting for the tastes of the public. 

My best to Oscar. 

Yours, 

John Addington Symonds 

\---

January 19, 2019 3:44 PM 

Dr. Blunt, 

Stopped by your office but you weren't there. You're going to want to check this out, though. I have a Google Alert set up for Symonds to catch any competing scholarship, although I think we're the only group actively researching him. Just got a hit from a bookseller who claims to have a first edition of "The Problem of Greek Ethics" out of a private collection, not one of the known copies. Check out this link: www.azfellandco.com/shop/01. If it's real, it would be a huge deal for the project to have our own copy. The reprints are frankly unreliable, there was so much censorship happening. And the journey of the book itself is a relevant part of the history, with so few published copies in existence - we're still not sure who made all those copies that circulated in the underground gay community so that it got read at all. I've asked the seller for more information verifying the book's provenance - what it says on the page about "one owner" is obviously nonsense. As you'll see, he's being cagey about the price as well. Hoping we can get some of that sweet sweet Bloomberg money in on this. It would really put Baltimore on the map in terms of LGBTQ scholarship. 

Jay 

Dr. Jay Stevens, PhD  
Pronouns: they, them, theirs  
Post-Doc, Center on LGBTQ Studies  
Johns Hopkins University 

\---

Dear Dr. Stevens, 

Thank you for your inquiry about the Symonds first edition. I must admit I was touched by your personal narrative and the description of your research project. It is certainly outrageous how much of the history of gay activism been lost to misguided religious persecution. What little could get published was burned by the censors forthwith, and many people were afraid to even tell their real stories in diaries that could be discovered and used against them. Thank goodness we are now in more enlightened times. 

I do not undertake to sell this book lightly, and it is of utmost importance that it go to a good home. Going to a university collection, where it could contribute to the edification of future generations, could certainly fit the bill. And, although we have not met, I believe I have good instincts for people. You seem like you would really love the book. 

Please reply with more details about the preservation and curatorial standards of the space that houses your collections. Is it temperature and humidity controlled? Fire-proofed? What kind of security protocols are in place? 

Very sincerely, 

AZ Fell  
AZ Fell and Co. Bookstore 

\---

Hi Mr. Fell, 

Good to hear from you! I must admit that at first I didn't believe you were real. Though, I suppose if someone were going to the trouble of faking a valuable first edition they might pick something that more than three people in the world care about. 

In reference to your question about the preservation environment for our collections, I'll be honest and say that we're building it as we go. The University has recently come into some money and we're in a position to invest in state of the art collections space, as soon as we have anything to collect. Could use your feedback, to be honest, since you're familiar with the needs of old books. As for security, we happen to have our own police force - long story. 

However, if I'm to make the case to my P.I. for purchasing this book, I really do need to know more about how it came into your possession and why you're selling. I'm sure you deal with this all the time - we can't know that it's authentic otherwise. We also need to know your price. 

Cheers,  
Jay

\---

Dear Dr. Stevens, 

As I mentioned in the ad, this copy of The Problem of Greek Ethics has been in the collection of the AZ Fell and Co. bookstore since its founding in 1886. If you must know, the bookstore's founder was a personal friend of Mr. Symonds and received it as a gift. 

As to why I'm selling, please bear with me while I get a bit sentimental. The bookshop recently experienced a fire. Luckily we were spared substantial damage in the end, but it has caused me to reconsider the wisdom of keeping some of the most valuable pieces here. Thus my concern for the fireproofing of your facilities. I don't want another fiasco like the Library of Alexandria on my conscience! 

Very sincerely,

AZ Fell  
AZ Fell and Co. Bookstore 

\---

Mr. Fell, 

Oh wow, so you weren't kidding about "one owner." Sorry, it's just … I'm American, I'm not used to that kind of continuity of history. Especially queer history, especially a book that went through so much to get read. The fact that it was safe in Soho the entire time while queer history was being written around it just blows my mind. Do you think that it could have been the source of some of the unofficial copies? We don't know today quite how it was able to get into so many hands despite there being so few copies printed. 

And, I totally get it about your concerns about safety, given what you've been through. Rest assured that we can set up a collections department that meets the latest in safety standards. 

If you can get comfortable with that, what would the price of the book be? 

Jay 

\---

Dear Dr. Stevens, 

The price of the book is what it always has been: free to the right person. 

In this case, the right person would be someone with an endowed professorial position in LGBTQ Studies. 

Very sincerely, 

AZ Fell 

\---

Mr. Fell, 

That's not what I was expecting. Unfortunately Hopkins doesn't have an endowed professorship… wait. Wait. I see where you're going with this. Let me get back to you. 

Jay 

\---

Johns Hopkins University  
For Immediate Release 

Johns Hopkins University is pleased to announce the creation of the Bloomberg endowed professorship in LGBTQ Studies. Building on Baltimore's legacy of as a center of gay culture, the university is investing in its collection of research artifacts that will help spread understanding of gay people's historic contributions to society. 

One such notable artifact is a copy of The Problem Of Greek Ethics by John Addington Symonds. A groundbreaking work in its time for contrasting modern rejection of homosexuality with the embrace of it that characterized previous eras, only a few copies were ever officially printed due to the author's fear of persecution. And yet, unofficial copies circulated widely among gay Londoners, making it an important example of the way gay narratives reached their audiences historically. The book was recently acquired by JHU from a private collection for an undisclosed amount. 

Dr. Jay Stevens of the Center for LGBTQ studies has been promoted to the position. Their exemplary post-doctoral work on the suppression and dissemination of historical LGBTQ narratives has made them a sought-after conference speaker. Their first book, "Reading Between The Lines: Gay Historical Narratives And What They Can Tell Us Today" will be published in 2022 by Lavender Press.


End file.
